


Ten Christmas Mornings

by dragons_and_angels



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Holiday Fic Exchange, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:15:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21942748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragons_and_angels/pseuds/dragons_and_angels
Summary: From 2003 to 2012, Harry sees ten Christmas mornings with his family.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
Comments: 6
Kudos: 46





	Ten Christmas Mornings

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to The Distant Dusk for organising this and betaing my fic! All mistakes are my own. This is the fic for the Incognito Elf (Secret Santa) exchange.
> 
> Merry Christmas to anyone who celebrates it!

**2003**

Christmas Day dawned and Harry Potter yawned as he watched the sun come up. Being one of the younger, newer Aurors meant that when there was a shift on Christmas Day, he was the one put forward. Ron was there with him but it was his time to sleep and so Harry was left watching the sun rise by himself.

"Has he done anything?" Ron grumbled as he shifted beside Harry, obviously awake but not wanting to be.

"He's probably sleeping like most people." Harry yawned again. "Wouldn't it be nice if criminals could just agree they wouldn't do anything illegal during Christmas?"

Ron snorted. He had complained of the cold so much that he was now wearing his and Harry's scarves and a blanket around his shoulders. Harry felt very snug in his Weasley jumper, something which Ron had gone without. He was sure Molly Weasley put warming charms in the wool, as it had kept him comfortable all night.

"Mum said she is going to do Christmas lunch later than normal so we can sleep," Ron muttered as he did their hourly checks to see if anyone had passed by them, invisible or otherwise.

"Thank God for Molly Weasley," Harry said fervently. "Although, I'm pretty sure she didn't want the three of us falling asleep into pudding."

"Three of us?" Ron asked. "Despite what she says, I know Hermione sleeps perfectly well when I'm not there."

Harry muffled his laughter with his glove. "Ginny had an evening game yesterday. She said between the cool down and the media, she probably won't finish until one. She won't be awake properly until twelve at least." He and Ginny were not living together yet but she spent so much time at his and Ron's flat that she might as well live with them. When he got back this morning, she would be snuggled in his bed right in the middle, he would not be able to get in without disturbing her.

"Oh, no one wants to see Ginny before she's awake properly." Ron grimaced. "She'll be there today?"

"Probably," Harry answered easily. Ron rolled his eyes at him.

"Stop, you're sickening," he said.

"I know," Harry replied. The thought of going back home to a bed warmed by Ginny and then a proper family Christmas dinner made him smile. He wished he could go back to ten-year-old Harry and tell him that he would get everything he dreamed of. He kept on smiling despite Ron's mocking, until they were replaced by the day shift and he went home and found Ginny exactly as he imagined her. She was curled up in the smallest ball she could possibly be, right in the middle of the bed so Harry had no choice but to wake her up in order to climb in. She woke up enough to give him a sleepy kiss and allow him in bed, before falling back asleep in the same tight ball.

Harry snuggled down into the warm bed, eyes on Ginny and let himself drift into sleep.

**2004**

Harry woke up on Christmas morning to the sound of Ginny vomiting in their ensuite bathroom. The little house they had bought together had three bedrooms, a small attic and a bathroom adjoining the master bedroom. Ginny did not close the door on the way to throwing up, so Harry woke up to the sight and sound of his fiancee hugging the toilet.

He did not ask her whether she was alright - one more time and she was sure to hex him - but instead got her a cool towel and a glass of water. He pulled her hair out of her face and tied it back, quickly cleansing the strands which had been caught in the first wave. He put the cool cloth across the back of her neck and gave her the glass of water when she groped for it.

"Thank you," Ginny muttered as she sipped the water carefully. Harry did not ask her anything, he simply refreshed the towel and waited patiently as she brushed her teeth. She spat out her toothpaste and washed her face.

"I thought morning sickness was meant to finish after three months." He carefully did not sound worried. Ginny did not appreciate his 'flapping' as she put it.

"Mum said she got it throughout the pregnancy with Ron," Ginny replied. "The books all lie." She crawled back into bed and Harry joined her, though now he was awake he did not think he would be going back to sleep anytime soon. "Do you think we should talk to Amelia about it?"

Harry was instantly on edge at the mention of Ginny's midwife. Amelia was the only person outside of the family who knew Ginny was pregnant and she had been very forgiving about Harry's general anxiety over the pregnancy and the birth. Ginny, on the other hand, had been very relaxed so for her to suggest talking to Amelia was concerning.

"If you want to," Harry said, deliberately casual. The only people they could talk to about Ginny being pregnant were Fleur, who had the worst possible pregnancy with Victoire and had been on bed rest for the last month before the birth, and Molly, who had seven fairly easy pregnancies and was quick to think everything was normal. "She wouldn't mind a Floo call or an owl."

"On Christmas Day?" Ginny rasied one pale orange eyebrow at him. He kissed her forehead, unable to help himself.

"I forgot it was Christmas Day. Maybe we can wait until tomorrow to send an owl.'

Ginny nodded and then snuggled down into her pillow. "You better remember it's Christmas in time to wake me up. Mum will not be happy if we're late for Christmas lunch."

"No problem," Harry said. He took off his glasses and closed his eyes. Maybe five more minutes.

**2005**

James was both the easiest baby and the most difficult one around. He was a cheerful baby, always babbling and smiling to himself so Harry never worried about him past the usual anxieties which Amelia said were completely normal for a first time father. On the other hand, he was very, very loud.

On Christmas Eve, they had taken James to see his grandparents and then to see Andromeda and Teddy (who regarded James as some kind of trainee puppy who giggled a lot). They had played with him and bathed him, all designed to make sure he slept really well in preparation for Christmas. Harry had hoped that his wake up time might be a little later than usual, but Ginny told him he was dreaming.

At five in the morning, they were woken by a squealing laugh. James babbled at them over the magical baby monitor Andromeda had shown them how to set up and then he squealed again.

"Why is he awake?" Harry asked in despair as he reached for his glasses to look blearily at the picture of James projected on the wall next to their bed. His son's hair had already turned lighter, showing he was likely to get Ginny's hair colour rather than Harry's, but his eyes seemed like they couldn't choose between Ginny's brown and Harry's green.

"Because he's your son," Ginny muttered darkly. She hadn't opened her eyes but the way she gripped the pillow said she was definitely not asleep.

"The only one who is a morning person like this is Hermione," Harry said. The bedroom was freezing when he took his arm out from under the duvet and groped for his dressing gown. "If it wasn't for the hair, I would ask if there was something you wanted to tell me."

"Hermione isn't the one being a smart-arse here in the bedroom at five AM," Ginny replied. She finally cracked open an eye. "You getting up with the spawn?"

"Don't call our child spawn," Harry managed to get out around a yawn. James laughed as if he could hear them and Harry looked over at the picture of him with his feet out of the blanket as he waved above his head. Suddenly, his feet went down and James flipped over onto his front.

"Did he just...?" Ginny sat up and stared at the picture. Harry watched, breathless, as their son looked surprised at suddenly finding the world at a different angle -- but he merely giggled again and pushed his body up onto his arms in order to look around.

"He's never done back to front before," Harry said, almost giddily. He had gone through these milestones with Teddy and marvelled over each of them with Andromeda but it was another thing to see his own son do it -- mostly because it wasn't clouded with guilt over who could not be there to see it.

"Go and get him," Ginny ordered and Harry hurried to comply. James smiled up at him when he got to the bedroom and Harry picked him up with his own smile. James immediately reached for his glasses but Harry, far too used to this, skilfully moved out of the way.

"Shall we go and see Mummy, James?" Harry said in what Ron called his 'baby talk voice', lighter and softer than normal. "We watched you turn over, aren't you the cleverest boy ever?" When he came into his and Ginny's bedroom, Ginny had a Weasley jumper on and stretched out her arms to receive a smiling, chatty James.

"Hello, baby boy," she cooed. Harry thought it was unfair that Ron teased him about his own baby voice when Ginny's was even worse. James loved it though and started to reach out for Ginny's face as he told her in his own language how happy he was to see her. "Has Daddy been telling you how good you are?"

James laughed as Harry crawled back into bed, pulling his wife and son closer.

**2006**

A crash startled Harry awake and reminded him that just because he was sleeping, did not mean he stopped being a father. He could hear his son calling him from the next room and Albus fussing in the cot next to the bed. Their youngest son had been born much earlier than planned and was much smaller than James had been at six months. Between that and James' enthusiasm over his new brother, they had decided to keep his cot in their room for a little while.

"I'm coming, James," he called out as Ginny picked up Albus and put him to her breast without opening her eyes, the movements easy and practiced. Albus' dark head of hair, far darker than James had ever been, nestled into the crook of Ginny's arm and Harry paused to give them both a kiss to their crown before going to see what else James had done.

"I fell," Harry's ever cheerful firstborn child announced when Harry came into the room. James was lying splayed out on the floor, a charming smile on his face. The side of his bed was indeed down, though Harry was sure he had put it up when he had read James his last bedtime story. Between Harry forgetting about the side and accidental magic, Harry had a pretty good idea about which one was more likely.

"You okay?" Harry asked as he picked James up. He was rewarded with a smacking kiss on his cheek and a sly attempt to steal his glasses. Harry returned the kiss while pulling the grabbing hand away from his face and smiled at his son. "Why did you fall out of bed?"

"High," James said, which was both was and wasn't an answer. Harry decided to bring him back to bed. It was past six o'clock and it was Christmas morning after all.

"Merry Christmas, James," he said as he gave his son a hug. James patted his cheek in a not-so-gentle fashion.

"Allie," James demanded and then squealed in happiness as they entered Harry and Ginny's bedroom and he saw his little brother in his mother's arms. He leapt out of Harry's arms, or tried to, and ended up bringing them both on the bed in an ungainly heap. James righted himself and crawled up the bed to look down at Albus.

"Look who's up," Ginny said, though Harry was not sure about which one of them she was talking about. "You woke up your brother."

"Allie," James said, looking delighted at the very idea that he had woken up his brother. Ginny seemed to realise what she had started and she gave their son a quelling look. As always, it seemed to have little effect on James, who stroked Albus' hair gently.

"Nice hands," he said, echoing Harry's command whenever he wanted to touch Albus. James adored his younger brother and was always trying to hug him or stroke him. Harry was interested to see how this panned out when Albus was older and didn't want to be pet constantly by his older brother.

"Good boy, James." Harry brushed a kiss over his son's hair and gave Albus' head a quick ruffle. Ginny turned her head to yawn and James copied her. He lay down and stared up at Albus, his eyelashes fluttering as if he was already drifting off to sleep. Harry decided not to remind him about the presents waiting for him downstairs.

"Our children are the cutest in the world," Ginny said with a soft smile in Harry's direction.

"Agreed."

James gave a sleepy giggle.

**2007**

Harry woke up to Ginny's stifled laugh. She was sitting up in bed, feeding their daughter, and watching the baby monitor image on the wall. He blinked at her and took a few seconds to adjust to being awake before his body wanted to be. Between his job and his now three kids, having an uninterrupted, full night's sleep was something almost unheard of.

He reached out to his bedside table and put on his glasses, squinting against the admittedly dim light of the baby picture. He blinked at what he saw.

Albus and James were curled up together in James' bed, the bigger one of the two. They were curled up like two commas, their heads pressed together, one red and one black and they were talking, speaking over each other as they did so. Every other word was interspersed with giggles, which made Albus' already limited vocabulary even more indecipherable. James seemed to have no problems understanding Albus and was replying as he would to Harry and Ginny. He was talking about Christmas dinner.

"Gran makes even more food than before and everyone sits outside around a big table," James told Albus confidently. The fact that he had not remembered what they had done last year and had asked Harry about what was going to happen seemed to have no effect on how he gave the information to Albus.

"Brrr," Albus said as he blinked up at his older brother.

"No, it's not cold. There are lots of warm magic and Granddad puts a roof over the table." Harry smiled as he heard his own words echoed back to Albus. He would not have thought about telling Albus the specific details James had wanted, thinking him knowing they were going to his grandparents for lunch was enough.

"They're so adorable," Ginny said as she shifted on the bed so she could face the picture a lot better. Lily was pressed against her shoulder and Harry held out his hands for his daughter, already anticipating her warm, comfortable weight against his shoulder.

"We may not have planned to have three children so close in age, but sometimes I think it was worth it." Harry looked at the picture of James and Albus in one bed, Albus' bed fully ignored by now, and wondered about if Petunia and Vernon had been better people, better parents, he and Dudley could have been like that. He and Dudley had struck up a tentative, Christmas card only relationship, and if Dudley could do that against everything his parents had taught him, it would have been amazing how he could have turned out if the Dursleys, as Dumbledore put it, hadn't damaged Dudley as much as they had.

"Hermione and Ron seem to have the same idea," Ginny replied. "I saw Hermione last week and she looks like it could be any day despite the due date being the middle of January."

"Oh, the baby was definitely an accident," Harry said hastily as he patted Lily on the back.

"How do you know?" Ginny swept her tangled hair over one shoulder.

"Ron said they were planning to have another one but after it took so long for Rose to be conceived they thought it would be a couple of years of trying before another baby came along. Then of course, she got pregnant within two months and now they're going to have two kids under two." Lily snuffled against his neck and Albus let out a high pitched giggle.

"Well, there are worse things," Ginny said as she turned back to look at James and Albus' picture with a soft smile.

**2008**

Lily had been up half the night, as magical colds had no knowledge of when it was Christmas time. Harry had crawled into bed with Ginny, already shattered and looking forward to waking up whenever his children decided they wanted to.

It felt like he had just closed his eyes when someone was trying to pry them open. Far too used to this, Harry merely opened his eyes rather than reacting violently like he would if he was on a stakeout at work.

"Albus, why are you up?" he managed to croak out. Albus blinked at him, his green eyes so similar to Harry's. Sometimes he marvelled at what it was like to have someone else who was so obviously related to him, but this was not one of those times.

"James told me it was Christmas." Albus seemed to think this was enough of an explanation. He held out his small red stocking and Harry had to stifle a groan into his pillow.

"Al, how did you get past the stairgate?" Harry asked.

"I didn't show him, Daddy," James' voice came from the doorway. Ginny groaned, the noise finally waking her from her deep sleep. She had the same cold as Lily, and Harry wished he had taken Albus out of the room when he had first woken him up.

"I know you didn't, James," Harry said. The only reason he knew this for sure is that he found James screaming at the stairgate just two days ago. "Albus, how did you get past the stairgate?"

"Why did you not get mine and Lily's?" James demanded. Albus blinked at him, managing to look very innocent in a way that was going to cause Harry and Ginny a lot of trouble when he was older.

"Magic," Albus said to Harry and then buried his head in his Christmas stocking, obviously not willing to elaborate on this. James and Harry both stared at Albus and Ginny muffled her laughter into her pillow. The magical monitor lit up on the opposite wall and Harry saw Lily standing up in her cot, pulling on the bars like she had been locked in prison. She looked like she was building up for a scream, so Harry hastened to get out of bed and to his daughter's room. James followed him.

"Daddy, stockings," he said as he followed Harry down the darkened hall. None of his children had shown any fear of the dark so far, but considering the amount of times they had walked into things when the light was off, Harry sort of wished they had slightly more caution.

"James, your sister," Harry said back. He opened the door and Lily immediately closed her mouth and gave him a smile as if she hadn't been about to try and break the sound barrier. "Good morning, Lily."

"Morning, Lily," James echoed. "Christmas stockings!"

Lily clapped her hands and when Harry lifted her out of the cot, she immediately wanted to be put down. She toddled over to James and the three of them made their slow progress downstairs, retrieving the stockings before going back to Harry and Ginny's bedroom.

"Stockings?" Ginny asked, already downing a dose of Pepper-Up.

"Stockings!" James said. He helped Lily onto the bed before climbing on himself.

**2009**

For the first Christmas morning in years, the first morning in months, Harry woke up on his own. He felt rested and settled as he turned over to see Ginny starting to stir as well. Her eyelashes fluttered and she smiled when she opened her eyes and saw him awake.

"Do you hear that?" Ginny shifted closer so she was pressed against Harry.

"Hear what?" Harry smiled as leaned closer. This close he did not need his glasses, he could see Ginny's brown eyes and each of her freckles over her nose.

"Absolutely nothing. It's completely quiet." Ginny smiled. There was a moment where everything was fine and then her smile started to fade. "All the children in the house and it's completely quiet."

"Want to go and check on them?" Harry said, already reaching for his glasses on his nightstand. Ginny didn't answer verbally, merely shrugged on her dressing gown before hurrying out of the bedroom. Molly had put them in Ginny's old bedroom and it had been surreal for Harry to lie down somewhere different than where he had spent most of his time in the Burrow.

They climbed down the stairs as quietly as possible, not wanting to wake anyone who wasn't already awake. They walked into the sitting room and found a production line. Teddy, very grown up after returning from his first term at Hogwarts, was supervising while Victoire was his willing enforcer, sticking her brother next to James and Freddie on the sofa and glaring at them when they deviated. She was so busy keeping an eye on the troublemakers that she was missing Albus eating something from the bowl being passed around.

Over in the corner, Molly had her knitting needles going over in a rhythmic pattern beside her as she handed another bowl of something to a solemn looking Rose and a gleeful Dominique.

"Mum, what's going on?" Ginny asked. Her speech drew everyone's attention. Their children gave them smiles and waves, but it was Teddy who seemed happiest to see them. He came over to Harry, his face alight with joy though he tried to disguise it in favour of being grown-up. Harry gave him a hug as soon as he was close, which was eagerly received by Teddy.

As much as he loved his children, and he did, more than he ever thought was possible, he had a special love for his godson. Teddy had been the one who had pulled him out of his worst times, when even Ginny, Ron and Hermione had not been able to help. Teddy, despite the guilt and grief surrounded him, was ignorant to everything that had happened. He did not care whether Harry had spoken a word to anyone that day, he wanted to be fed and changed all the same. Harry tried to be the godfather to Teddy that he was sure Sirius would have been to him if everything had gone right and Teddy responded by loving Harry with a kind of devotion that made Andromeda smile and Molly tear up.

"Have you been keeping everyone in line, Teddy?" Harry asked as he brushed a kiss over Teddy's red and white striped hair.

"It's such hard work," Teddy said in a long-suffering voice which made Harry laugh as he pulled his godson into a tighter hug.

"We're making sugar biscuits," Molly said cheerfully. "I was not expecting anyone else for another hour at least."

"We're going to ice them afterwards," Victoire said. "After we roll them out and cut them into shapes." Molly gestured behind Victoire back and Harry assumed she would be doing a lot of the cutting out of most of the shapes.

"It turns out when you get up every day at six, it's hard to switch off." Ginny sat down next to Lily, who seemed to be competing with Albus about how much dough she could eat before being caught.

"Do it for fifteen years and you'll never be able to lie in again."

"No, thanks. Why do you think we had three so close in age? Get all the early mornings done at once." Ginny hugged a giggling Lily to her and Albus took the bowl as he shuffled off the stuffed footstool and walked over to Harry.

"Yes, that is why we had them so close in age," Harry replied sarcastically as he picked up Albus, bowl and all. In doing so, Albus smeared some kind of sticky something all over Harry's neck but he was far too used to this to react.

"Are you going to stay and make biscuits or are you going back to bed?" Molly asked.

If Harry hadn't been tempted before, Teddy's pleading look would have convinced him. Ginny, already knowing exactly what he was thinking, nodded.

"Of course we will, Mum."

They spent the next hour before anyone else got up, creating dozens and dozens of sugar biscuits, all different shapes and sizes and of differing levels of icing expertise. It was one of the best Christmas mornings Harry had ever had.

**2010**

Ever since having kids, Harry had discovered numerous ways he didn't like to be woken up. Ginny shaking him awake and saying the baby was coming nearly three months early was probably the worst, though the time James had started to wheeze in their cot next to their bed came a close second. Then there was the screaming, the crashing or, worst of all, the ominous silence when you know your three small children are awake but it is still quiet anyway.

But the Christmas morning after Lily had just turned three had a fairly bad wake up call.

"Mummy, Daddy, Lily set the sitting room curtains on fire!" James announced as soon as he came into their room. There was one second where Harry's brain had to process what it had just heard and then, showing the quick reaction time he was known for, Harry was out of bed and heading downstairs, wand in hand. He could hear Ginny behind him grabbing James and her own wand as she did.

James had not been lying; when Harry went into the sitting room, he found Lily and Albus huddled against the inside wall, staring up the flames slowly licking up the dark red curtains Ginny had insisted on.

"James, take Al and Lily to the kitchen," Ginny ordered sternly. Harry allowed himself to focus on the danger, knowing his wife was keeping their children safe.

The Flame-Freezing Charm first and then a water charm to put out the fire, at the cost of the curtains and the carpet. It took the work of a few seconds but it was the first danger they had experienced in this home, and it left Harry almost shaky with adrenaline.

Ginny's hand touched his elbow and he turned to look at her. The children weren't anywhere in sight, thank Merlin, and Harry allowed his feelings to show, just for a second.

"Yeah, it scared me too," Ginny said.

"Of all the accidental magic she could have done, why did it have to be fire?" Harry asked, shaking his head at the burned curtains. "What happened to a new toy or more food?"

These had been the first instances of accidental magic done by James and Albus, and they'd possibly lulled them into a false sense of security. Molly had been telling them only last week that Ron had tried to jump down a full flight of stairs like he had seen Bill and Charlie do, only for his body to float gently downwards. Arthur had witnessed the whole thing and told Harry his heart had almost stopped, right before his magic caught Ron.

"At least it's dealt with." Ginny yawned and looked at the clock. "Though why it couldn't have happened an hour later than this, I don't know."

Harry yawned too and stuck his wand in his pyjama pocket. "Come on. Let's go and find out what happened. We might as well eat and open the stockings down here."

**2011**

This Christmas they had decided to do something a little different. Rather than staying with Molly and Arthur -- their kids were all getting a little big to bunk down in the sitting room with their cousins -- they had invited Ron, Hermione, Rose and Hugo to stay with them for Christmas Eve night. They were ready for a nice relaxing Christmas morning having breakfast (Ron would cook since he was definitely the best out of the four of them) before heading over to the Burrow for lunch.

Harry should have remembered that between his own kids, all of them six and under, and Rose and Hugo, five and four respectively, there were a lot of early risers in the house and they were still outnumbered by kids, even with the extra adults.

This meant they were still woken up by a little piping voice, only it wasn't one of their own kids.

"Daddy, Rose says Father Christmas will fill my stocking with coal because I jumped on her last week."

Harry wished they had invested a little more in soundproofing, but since Ron and Hermione were staying in James' room, there were no silencing charms around anyway. He rolled over and pulled Ginny closer to him, the smell of her flowery shampoo and the sound of Ron and Hermione's murmured voices almost letting him drift back to sleep.

"That's not fair!" Lily screeched and both Ginny and Harry jumped as if they had been hit by a shocking spell. A second later, Harry realised Lily's cry had been more annoyed than scared or in pain and he relaxed.

"I'll get it," he said to Ginny. There was no chance of him being able to go back to sleep after that. He didn't see anyone in Lily's room, her and Rose had decamped elsewhere, but Albus' room yielded results. James and Albus had all five stockings in front of them and they were looking at the name labels on them but very obviously not touching anything inside. It was a way of bending the rules but not breaking them.

"We just wanted to make sure Hugo didn't have coal," James said as soon as he noticed his dad in the doorway. Albus turned to look at Harry with the most innocent expression Harry had ever seen on any of his children's faces.

Lily, on the other hand, was pouting and had her arms crossed as she glared at her brothers. "They hit me," she accused, not even looking at Harry, preferring instead to glare at her brothers. James looked a little uncomfortable but Albus looked unrepentant.

"We told you not to go near the stockings until Mummy and Daddy were awake."

"Daddy's awake," Lily pointed out. Harry decided not to mention he was only awake because she had yelled, fearing it would only give her ideas. Lily was very crafty like that.

"But Mummy isn't awake, and if you wake her up, she might decide to get revenge," Harry replied calmly. This was intriguing enough that Lily stopped glaring at her brothers and gave her father a quizzical look. Rose came back from the bathroom, looking as innocent as Albus, and Harry wondered if they taught each other that expression.

"Revenge?" Lily parroted.

"Mummy might decide that she is so tired from being woken up early that she doesn't want to do stockings until after breakfast." Harry knew Ginny wouldn't mind being the bad guy in this instance; she did the same thing when he wasn't there.

All three children looked horrified and Rose gave them a nervous look. "Aunt Ginny wouldn't do that, would she?" she asked uncertainly.

"Oh yes she would," Ron said from behind Harry. When he turned to look, Hugo was in Ron's arms, almost strangling his neck with his skinny arms. Both Rose and Hugo had inherited their mum's dark skin and brown eyes, but their hair defied genetics and was the flaming red of the Weasley family. Ron had shrugged over Hermione and Harry's confusion and had said at least he knew they were his children. Hermione hadn't spoken to either of them for a week after Harry had laughed at the joke.

Now he moved aside to let Ron into the room, confident Ron was going to back him up. "Aunt Ginny gets very unhappy when you wake her up. You should have seen what she did to my Chudley Cannons poster after I woke her up the first day of summer holidays one year."

"Not the Cannons," Rose said. She now looked as horrified as her cousins. Rose had inherited Ron's unfortunate love for the Cannons, though Harry maintained that had been some propaganda going on from her father. She had treated one of his old, signed posters as a treasured gift. It both embarrassed and pleased Ron in equal measures.

"And the worst thing is," Harry said, now getting into this. "Is that you know Ginny will talk to Hermione and persuade her to join in." He gave Ron a significant look and Ron nodded.

"Of course. Hermione disapproves of any presents before breakfast, so she would be more than happy to go with what Ginny wants."

"And you won't stop them?" Harry should not be enjoying this conversation so much when his son sounded so betrayed.

"What, after we were woken up by our darling children far too early on Christmas morning?" Harry raised his eyebrows at his son. "I think patience could be good."

"Of course, all this is hypothetical unless we wake up your mum and your aunt," Ron said.

"What's hypo-thingy?" James asked.

"Imaginary," Rose said quickly, sounding so like Hermione that Harry had a strange sense of deja vu. "Like it hasn't happened yet."

"So, here's what we'll do. We go downstairs and you guys can sort the presents like you normally do. I'll see whether your mum and aunt want to come downstairs and then we'll open stockings." Harry was pleased about this plan. Ginny was likely already awake but she might like a few more minutes in a warm bed.

"You just said we can't wake Mummy up." Albus was quick to point out the flaw in Harry's plan. Harry thought quickly without looking like he was doing so. It was a skill he felt like he had learned at school but only really perfected it after having kids.

"You're not waking her up, I am," Harry said, impressed he managed to think of this. This explanation seemed to be accepted by everyone, and Ron, after quickly checking with Hermione, led the quietest procession of kids Harry had ever seen downstairs. Harry went into Ginny.

She was awake, but showed no signs of getting up anytime soon, wrapped in the duvet as she was. "So I'm going to make them wait for stockings?" Ginny asked archly. Harry felt confused until she nodded towards the monitor. The picture was not being displayed on the wall right now, but Harry had faith it had been only a few seconds before.

"Well, I couldn't say you would take the stockings away, they would have never believed me. And you know Hermione prefers presents after we eat anyway, so it's not that much of a stretch. I'm guessing you're not coming down yet." He gestured at her very comfortable looking duvet roll.

"Nope," Ginny said, popping the p. "I'm going to stay in bed for as long as I can and enjoy a cup of tea that my wonderful husband has brought me." She batted her eyes at him in an exaggerated fashion, and Harry laughed. He leaned forward and kissed her firmly on the lips.

"I suppose I am a very wonderful husband," he said before leaning back.

"And modest too!" Ginny yelled after him as he left the bedroom. Harry laughed to himself as he made his way downstairs. The kids were already arguing, Ron was trying to tell Lily that she had Hugo's stocking instead of her own, and rain pounded at the windows instead of snow.

"Right, who wants some hot chocolate?" Harry asked the room at large; all squabbles were forgotten at the hint of sugar.

**2012**

Harry woke up on his own Christmas morning and remembered why he was so excited about today. Over the years he had fallen out of being excited about Christmas. He enjoyed the time spent with family, and he always smiled when he contrasted these days with those Christmasses he had spent with the Dursleys. Still, it wasn't the exciting time it was for his kids, and that was okay. But today was different. Today was the day he had all three kids and his godson under his roof. The last time he had woken up to them on Christmas morning was when they had all stayed at Molly and Arthur's for Christmas. Now Teddy was fighting with Andromeda, as Molly had said all teenagers did, and he had elected to stay with Harry and Ginny for Christmas Eve night. Harry had worried that Teddy was just staying to hurt his grandmother, but Andromeda had been quick to reassure him that Teddy had been thinking about this for a little while. It was the one thing both of them were in agreement about.

When he opened his eyes, Albus was there beside his bed, so quiet that Harry hadn't heard him slip inside the bedroom.

"Daddy, can we wake Teddy up?" Albus whispered, in deference to his sleeping mother.

"Teddy might want to sleep a little bit later, Al." Harry had remembered wanting to sleep as much as possible when he was a teenager, although that might have been because he was continually disturbed with dreams about Voldemort's mind. He did not want to test Teddy's goodwill and see if he still wanted to be at the Potters for Christmas morning after being woken up by three small children.

"James has gone to wake him up," Albus replied and Harry swore silently as he got out of bed and reached for one of his jumpers. The first jumper Molly had knitted him when he became an Auror was dark green and now very threadbare, but it was also the one which Ginny called his 'comfort jumper' and it was that one he reached for now.

"Some people like to sleep on Christmas morning," Harry said to his son as he hurried off to James' room. In their new house, Teddy didn't have his old room so whenever he stayed over, James was moved to Albus' room, something he was more than happy to do if he meant his favourite person could stay.

Harry pushed open Teddy's bedroom door quietly, only to discover he was too late and James was already chatting to Teddy as the older boy yawned in bed. His hair was a sleepy blue and he was smiling as if he didn't quite know what was going on and he was alright with that.

"Sorry, Teddy," Harry said when his godson turned to look at him in the doorway. "I was hoping to grab him before he woke you up."

"Why would you grab me?" James asked indignantly.

"Some people don't like being woken up at six thirty on Christmas morning," Harry answered.

"It's okay, Harry. James was just telling me that you open stockings on yours and Ginny's bed when it's just you guys." Teddy sat up, his hair now a riot of colours and his purple sleepshirt falling off one shoulder. He was scrawny and skinny but nowhere near like Harry was when he was a teenager. Harry wondered if Remus had been the same when he was a teenager and felt the now familiar pang as he realised this was another question which would go unanswered.

Harry saw something on his godson's face that made his heart twist inside his chest. It was familiar but more for recognising the feeling in himself whenever he looked at the Weasley family. He had hoped to avoid Teddy ever feeling like that but it looked like he had failed.

"Lily might have to squish between us to make room but if you sit between James and Al, you may actually be able to stop them fighting." Harry spoke as if it was obvious Teddy would be there. Long experience had taught him that Teddy was far too like him for comfort; he would refuse out of politeness if he was asked and thought he would get in the way, so Harry had learned to include Teddy without asking.

Teddy gave him a blinding smile before his expression settled more into his usual. "I don't know, I'm only one person."

"Hey!" James said, knowing he was being teased but not sure how.

"Go and round up the rest of them and grab your stockings." Harry nodded at Lily's room where his daughter was probably still soundly asleep. She would be a nightmare if she was woken but that would be nothing if she found out her brothers did stockings with Teddy without her.

Teddy gave him an amused look as he reached for his own Weasley jumper, a multi-coloured, high-necked thing which Teddy had instantly adored. "You could just summon them you know."

"The magic of Christmas, Teddy," Harry replied, who had heard far too much about this from Ginny, who had opinions about how things should be done on Christmas. "And it means I have time to make sure Ginny is awake before Lily jumps on her."

"Vitally important," Teddy said solemnly, and then snickered at Harry's eye roll. Teddy herded James out of the room as Harry followed, splitting off to go to his room just as Albus came out of it.

"Stockings!" Albus said when he saw Teddy and James. He latched onto Teddy's leg, almost causing Teddy to fall flat on his face. He had inherited his father's build but his mother's grace, and a small child attached to his leg would not help his balance at all.

"Al, walk," Harry warned. "I don't want any of you falling down the stairs." Albus and James both walked obediently behind Teddy, and Harry shook his head as he went into the main bedroom. Ginny was awake, obviously not left alone by Albus at all, and she smiled at Harry as he came in.

"All the kids coming in?" she asked as she moved to sit up, making room for the influx sure to come. Her easy way of counting Teddy as one of their kids had Harry kissing her, stirring up a great protest from James and Albus as they came in.

"That's gross," James said with all the authority of a seven-year-old who had just learned a new word as he climbed onto the bed.

Both Ginny and Harry leaned back against the headboard, Lily in between them, while Albus, Teddy and James sat in a loose circle at the end. They did the usual pulling out each present individually, comparing with everyone else's and swapping, if you were Albus and Lily. Harry kept a close eye on Teddy but he might as well not have worried. Teddy grinned the whole time, his hair a happy blush pink, not just at what he pulled out of his stockings, but at the reactions of James, Lily and Albus to what they were getting as well.

When everything was finished and the presents were back in the stockings to take them back to their room (they had to catch the play snitch for James as he had let it loose as soon as he could), Teddy lingered behind.

"You okay, Teds?" Harry asked quietly, Ginny, pretending to be busy, vanished the packaging that had managed to find its way into every corner of the bed.

Teddy hugged him, his arms going around Harry's middle just like he was eight years old again and delighted to see his godfather. Harry returned the hug easily, far more used to physical affection than he had been when Teddy was a baby, and thought about his own godfather. Regret coloured every memory he had with Sirius, regret that they hadn't had more time, that Harry hadn't truly understood how much Sirius loved him. He would see him again, see them all again, but right now all he could do was be to Teddy what Sirius would have been to him if everything had gone right.

"Thanks for letting me stay," Teddy mumbled into Harry's jumper.

"No _let_ about it," Harry said. He didn't release Teddy from the hug and the teenager didn't pull back. "We want you here as much as you want to be here. You're family, Teddy."

Ginny walked over and smoothed down Teddy's hair. "No escaping us now. You're stuck with us for life." Teddy pulled back and Harry let him go, despite wanting to cherish the moment. Teddy didn't hug him a lot anymore, so any moments were all the more precious.

"I think I can live with that." Teddy smiled at both of them and, with a flash, Harry saw Tonks in the curve of his smile and Remus in the light in his eyes. Harry smiled back as Teddy left their room when James bellowed his name. Ginny slipped an arm around his waist.

"Did you see them too?" she asked quietly.

"All the time," Harry replied. He rested his head in her hair, smelled her flowery shampoo which hadn't changed in the past decade and a half. "I hope they think we're doing all right with him."

"We love him and he knows it." Ginny smiled against the side of his neck, tickling him slightly. "Come on, let's get some breakfast going before our kids start fighting."

There was a crash, and the sound of squabbling floated over to them. Laughing, Harry and Ginny detangled themselves. He went down to the kitchen to start cooking and she went to pull their children apart.

This was now the normal for Christmas mornings, and Harry couldn't be happier.


End file.
